The Burlingame Voice

Bgame is for the birds

A friend turned me onto an app that has brought a lot of enjoyment lately.  Cornell Lab's Merlin uses your phone's microphone to record bird calls and references their database to identify the bird.  Thus far, in my very bird-friendly yard it has identified:

Dark-eyed Junco        Chestnut-backed Chickadee

Oak Titmouse            Nuttall's Woodpecker

Bewick's Wren            Lesser Goldfinch

Canadian Goose         House Finch

Steller's Jay               Bushtit

American Crow

I haven't bothered to record the Mourning Doves that have been around for several years and mating seasons or the random Seagull that flies by.  And while you are looking up in the sky, another app to enjoy is Flightradar24.  It maps the aircraft in the area, and you can click on any of them and see the flight number, origin, time en route, altitude, etc.  All of the airliners that fly south over Bgame and make a U-turn in the South Bay to land on 28 L & R show up nicely.

Millbrae mayhem or County disdain?

“Information is power and I understand the emotion around it, I expected it, but I want people to understand housing the homeless is the responsibility of everyone,”

                    San Mateo County manager Mike Callagy

That is a quote from the Daily Journal's article titled Mayhem in Millbrae about the proposed purchase by the County of La Quinta Inn to convert it to a homeless project.  One has to wonder where these people in positions of authority come up with these look-down-their-noses ideas of what is and isn't someone else's responsibility.  The statement just oozes with disdain and a strong sniff of elitism.  "I understand, but...."

And then there are the financial consequences as laid out by the Millbrae city manager:

City Manager Tom Williams said the city is on track to receive around $540,000 in TOT from the La Quinta Inn in this year and taking on the inn’s potential residents will cost the city around $168,000 a year in services.

“The hotel market is becoming healthy and it’s a productive hotel,” Williams said Monday. “Every penny counts for this city. I am just worried we are taking three steps forward and four back.”

The county will reimburse the city for one year of TOT, and at the same time either supply it with a sheriff deputy and a mental health clinician, which the city said it needs, for 2 1/2 years or the cash equivalent, Callagy said Tuesday.

Permanent revenue losses and permanent additional costs, but short-term reimbursements.  What could go wrong?  This mindset seems to be pervasive at the County as more free money flows at every opportunity.  This letter writer to the DJ this week hit the nail on the head regarding the Jackie Speier plan to partially fund more welfare--50/50 with her foundation and County taxpayer monies:

Not to sound cold, but the new program announced by county officials doesn’t make sense. The pilot plan will give $300 a month to 200 families with children ages 0-3 who meet income requirements.

I see a couple of problems with this. First, a number of families who would qualify for this program are probably already on at least one form of assistance. Second, does this not further preach a lack of self accountability this country is sorely lacking? If you can’t afford to raise a child due to financial or time restraints, it should not be up to local taxpayers to fill the gap. Furthermore, as we’ve seen with the current welfare system over the last few generations, there will be plenty of people who will take advantage of assistance provided and use it as a lifestyle.

Joe Guttenbeil

Redwood City

I think he understates the number of programs that make up the free money flow.  They are everywhere at the federal, state and county level.  Food, health care, bus tickets, childcare, tuition, electricity, tax "credits" without paying any taxes--you name it there is a subsidy for it.  All the while more housing is shoved down our throats making it more expensive for everyone else to live here.  That's the real mayhem hidden behind the curtain.

Bgame on the Ave: Tight squeeze

The 2023 rendition of Burlingame on the Avenue appeared to be quite a success.  I went for part of both days and it was crowded--especially around the main stage.  It wasn't crowded there because of all the people, but rather because of the decision to turn the stage 90 degrees from its usual orientation.  Plenty of people noted that left only about 10-12 yards of space between the front of the stage and the construction fence for the Post Office project.  It only fit a couple of chairs, one umbrella and the cross traffic to the food trucks cut right through the dance floor.  Several musicians noted how cramped it all felt playing to the crane.

Both days were hot and seemed humid for B'game.  Perhaps some of the Hurricane Hilary moisture found its way here.  The "Bayshore Stage" on Primrose next to the Gourmet Food Alley would have been a much better location for the Main Stage---it had shade from the buildings, more room for seating and dancing and less cross-traffic.  Let's hope the Post Office project is far enough along next year that the "community space" can handle the main stage.

Here's the closers, Smokin' Slice of Mojo, bringing it home on Sunday evening.

Netflix comes to B'game: BALCO

B'gamers who have been here for twenty years or more will remember Burlingame was the center of the doping scandal that rocked many professional sports back in 2003.  After getting its start in Millbrae and then San Carlos, BALCO moved to 1520 Gilbreth Rd.-- about a block from the It's It shop across the freeway.  The company principal, Victor Conte, and personal trainer/distributor Greg Anderson were fixtures around town.  They especially loved breakfast at Alana's.  Now Netflix has revived interest in the story with a just-released documentary film "Untold: Hall of Shame".

The film's good guy is Jeff Novitzky, the IRS agent who led the investigation into BALCO.  He grew up in B'game, graduated from Mills High School and played sports at Skyline.  His Wikipedia page is a fun read and he comes across as a tenacious investigator in the film.  This USA Today article describes the on-going social media fight between Novitsky and Conte.

If you watch closely, you will see images of the Gilbreth office building and the Burlingame police report that got things rolling.  All in all, it's a fun trip down a local memory lane.

Mills Canyon: Almost ready for affordable housing? ECR?

With the winter storm damage to Mills Canyon being repaired per this DJ article, perhaps it's time to look at that open space's suitability for satisfying some of our RHNA housing requirements.

The winding trails of Mills Canyon in Burlingame took a hit from harsh winter storms with the popular lower route washed out from tree failures, but work is almost done to complete a reroute.

City Arborist Rich Holtz said the city is aiming to have the trail completed and opened sometime in the coming weeks. Damage from the January storms caused a landslide on the lower portion of the Ed Taylor Loop Trail.  In March, the city contracted a company to develop a trail reroute, which costs around $65,000, for about 600 feet of damaged trail.

We already know that claiming the area is a "wildlife sanctuary" like Woodside tried will not work.  The Sacramento nags won't have it, so maybe it's time.  Six or seven stories would seem to fit nicely and give the top floors a bit of a view!

Just Kidding---I just couldn't wait until next April Fool's Day for this.  But what is not funny is the steady incursion of EssEff-level problems into our little burg.  This Tuesday, 9pm photo of a newly erected tent on El Camino at the B'way bus stop is the latest example.  I've heard of vagrants camping out at the Bayfront and along the Caltrain tracks in the trees, but right on ECR?  Maybe it's time to collect TOT.

BHS Gym bites the dust

Having been removed from the BHS community for more than a decade, big changes that the community is alerted to early can be news to me when they actually happen.  So it goes for the BHS gym--and I am not alone.  Several people pinged me to say how they were caught by surprise at the demolition of the old gym.  Not saying it wasn't time, just that it was a surprise.  If anyone knows where the gym-based sporting events are to be played, please weigh in.

This is the scene were the gym once stood.  Compared to other developments, a gym should go up pretty quickly.

Courtesy of the B'game Historical Society here is a photo of the first BHS gym designed by Ernest Norberg from the early 1930s

Papan vs. Beach: Pining for a Supe Seat

News reporters like to report on campaign donations and prominent donors.  It's pretty easy to do given the required filings and it's a lot easier than digging into the issues a couple of layers and comparing candidate responses.  That is especially true when we are early in the race.  Emily Mibach at the Daily Post did just that with the race to replace Dave Pine's seat as a SM County Supervisor representing the district from San Bruno south to B'game.  It's funny in a way since you can only find the Post in about five places in B'game and nowhere north of here.  But I applaud her doing her homework.

The headline is that for the first six months of the year, Emily Beach outraised Gina Papan by about $50,000.  Reporters often overlook what happened prior to the current reporting period (ask me how I know) and where other monies might come from like supportive PAC money.  Often times the donors are more important than the donation amounts.  As the Post piece points out, Papan is drawing from SF and San Mateo County while Beach has a wider small donor network and draws from further south.

A point-in-time difference of $50K isn't really meaningful.  Both candidates will be able to raise what they need to run a visible campaign.  What voters will be looking for is clear positions about undoing some of the harm the last Board did--overtly and by omission.  Telling the Sheriff's Department it cannot cooperate with ICE to deport convicted rapists and child molesters would be a good start.  Where do they stand on things like the La Quinta Inn purchase in Millbrae or, more generally, respecting neighborhood rights?  What ideas do they have to keep the SB9 vultures at bay?  Aside from raising tolls and fees, what is their plan to fix the infrastructure in the County?  Who understands County finances and can suggest how to do more with less?  And which one will leave our gas appliances alone?  That's what I'll be looking for.

PG&E: Less trimming, shut-offs....and more digging

Continuing my fascination with all things electricity-related, PG&E's announcement that they will substitute quick, tenth-of-second shut-offs when changes in flow occur.  From today's WSJ:

The California utility company PG&E spent about $2.5 billion on a yearslong effort aimed at reducing wildfire risk by cutting or clearing more than a million trees growing alongside power lines.  It now says that work was largely ineffective and is eliminating the program, according to an internal analysis reviewed by The Wall Street Journal and interviews with utility executives.  The strategy shift marks a calculated risk by the utility that new power-line settings will be more effective than the tree-trimming program that was put in place after a series of devastating wildfires. The program, which the company called “enhanced vegetation management,” was meant to supplement routine tree-trimming work required by regulators.  PG&E saw a 68% reduction in ignitions on lines that shut off on contact in 2022, the first year the settings were fully deployed.

Let's hope Hillsborough gets the shut-off capability early, but I'm still not seeing the wisdom or economics of the "bury everything" strategy:

PG&E says the new approach will be both safer and less expensive as it works to permanently reduce wildfire risk by burying 10,000 miles of power lines in the coming years, an ambitious plan expected to cost at least $20 billion. The company is challenged in its ability to raise capital following a complex bankruptcy restructuring and has been working to cut costs in order to fund the work.

What this means for our rates cannot be good.  Aside from screwing higher-income customers and the steady rate increases already announced, digging 10,000 miles of trench, burying lines and removing towers has a lot of hidden complexity.  Ask me how I know.